


Cancerous

by Cicadacry



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-04
Updated: 2017-01-19
Packaged: 2018-08-29 01:44:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8470783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cicadacry/pseuds/Cicadacry
Summary: In a doomed line where Karkat succumbs to the struggles of their journey, and those on the meteor have to find a way to work without him - or, find a way to fix everything.





	1. Introduction

 

      Since Karkat left, this rock didn’t feel like home anymore. Before it had been so much more than an asteroid hurtling through space; it had been a giant pow-wow with friends. It was a cabinet full of goodies. It was a pillow fort you poured so much effort into you might as well be an architect. It was a dump for excuses to celebrate a new holiday, everyday. Around every corner was a story one could remember, and that’s how it had been for 2 years. Sure they were putting off responsibilities, but they had deserved it. Afterall, they were kids, whose adolescent years were stolen from a game that killed their guardians, destroyed the world and slammed the weight of a new one right on their shoulders. It was inevitable for a few to collapse, but no one thought it would be Karkat. The thought even, was too painful.

     Now no one left their room much. Dave didn’t because every sight on this place reminded him of their games. Can town, dick chalk, the couch, the beat machine, the balcony. The memories were so bitter now without the other person there to rejoice in them. Kanaya stayed solitary in shame, claustrophobic from the belief she couldn’t stop him. She said she should have known, but she was arrogant. Terezi was never even in her room, they didn't know where she went off to and she never spoke a word to the rest of them.

     Karkat felt like the beating heart of this place. His death was slow, and self inflicted. Dave liked to hold onto the hope that he could still be alive. This game was so topsy-turvy crazy that anyone cold die and it would be nothing more than flesh wound. John had done it hundreds of times. But after a couple months that belief became a mask he wore in hopes that if he believed it enough it could substitute this hole sinking in him. 

     Dave sat now at the corner of his bed, head buried in his hands, fingers like reeds as they parted for his eyes to peer at the floor. Sweat hung off his brow, making his forehead glossy. The memory of his nightmare was still vivid enough he wasn’t sure if he was still in it.  _ I need to cool down…  _ He slapped his hands down on the bed and pushed to his feet, crossing the small amount of room he had. He put a hand on the brass doorknob, but his wrist did not cooperate to turn. He thought about opening the door and seeing Karkat standing there, a lifeless husk on two feet, neck snapped so it hung over the left shoulder like a broken bobble head.Goose bumps sprouted on his arms.

     He shut his eyes and threw open the door, lowering his head and making his way down the corridors that weaved through the meteor. His feet carried him loyally to the direction of the bathroom without his eyes having to look up from the cracked tile. 

     The bathroom met the soles of his feet with a wet sloshing noise. He looked up to see the floors reflect spotlessly. On her hands and knees with her face and brush pressed to the tile was Rose. She did not look up at him, but scrubbed at the floors with her tongue between two teeth.Her garments were stained with the brownish black mildew that had once clogged the bathtub and her hair stuck to her forehead in strands. 

     “Rose.” Dave pinched the bridge of his nose and tiredly squished his eyelids to their sockets.    
“Oh Dave!” She hiccuped in surprise. “Don’t worry, I’ll be out of your way in just one minute… After I get this stain out from here.” The bristles of the brush squealed in protest. Dave opened his eyes again and humorlessly gazed at her.    
“Rose there’s nothing there.” He stepped forward but as soon as one foot fell before the other she snapped at him.   
“Hey! Get your dirty bare feet out of here I just washed these floors!” For a moment there was eye contact. Dave could now practically see the comical stars swirling around her head like a cartoon character. She was absolutely wasted. 

     It wasn’t new for his sister to be tipsy, ever since they’d gotten here she’d spike her iridescent bottles with liquor. But since their friend's death it’s gotten out of hand. The first few nights without him you could hear the rancorous melody of ‘100’s of bottles of beer on the wall’ from across the rock.

     “Look, you need to just go get some rest again, okay? One two many lime Coronas.” He touched a hand to her bony shoulder but she shot away.   
“Shut up!   
Her lip curled to show yellow teeth. “I can be here if I want and I want so no to you!” She slurred.   
“Okay well - this is the boys bathroom.” He walked towards her as she scooted away on her ass.   
“Dave why don’t you ‘preciate what I done?” Here comes the waterworks. Rose’s lip quivered in weakness as her already watery eyes began to leak. 

     Dave sighed with a touch of annoyance as he put a hand on her shoulder again. “I do.” He bleakly answered.   
“No you don't… You just tell me to leave. I’m trying to do you and everybody good by you…” Her voice was so whiny it was almost indistinguishable, and without it was nonsensical. 

_      Jesus it’s like taking care of a toddler.  _ “Listen Rose, how about we get you in bed? You’ll feel better later.” He never was good with kids. Dave heaved her up to her feet, body swaying like a flag in the harsh wind. Her hands were collecting the snot that hung from her nostrils.   
“I feel sick…” She croaked, and that was warning enough as she collapsed to her hands and knees and vomited on the stain she was trying to clean. 

     Dave gave her a wide birth, grimacing as he watched her dry heave. She sobbed and shook violently, burping up spit and vodka. Kanaya came springing from down the hall, swinging into the doorway. “What happened?” She blurted out before she could process the scene. Her eyes fell on Rose and they visibly clouded in disappointment and worry.    
“She’s clearly reenacting the first episode of Drunken Housewives.” Dave quipped, arms crossing. 

     Kanaya sent him a quick glare before stooping down and running a hand through Rose's hair, smoothing it back to her frizzled scalp. “Rose…?”    
She bawled, lurching close to Kanaya and pawing at her skirt. “I can’t do it!”   
“Can’t do what dearie…?”

     Dave flicked his eyes to the spreading puddle of vomit, stomach churning. “I can’t help!”   
“Rose what are you talking about?” Kanaya comforted as she took a handkerchief out from a pocket and began to dab away the remains on her chin.    
“You help plenty.” Dave chipped in, side stepping past the puddle and standing beside her.   
“I couldn’t help him!” she unborrowed herself from Kanaya’s hands and turned her broiling eyes on Dave. 

     The room solidified with a chilling silence. None of them could...


	2. Telephone Games

     By the time Dave and Kanaya had shambled back to Roses quarters her sobbing had subsided and left her with the natural painkiller of exhaustion. Her head was slumped to one shoulder, feet now hardly budging as they dragged across the cement. Dave tried not to wheeze, but his cheeks had burnt red and his arms were getting tired. It was made more insulting when he glanced at Kanaya, whose breath had hardly risen above a light pant.

     They laid her down on the rustled duvet of her bed, Kanaya taking a seat at the corner. She brought a spare yellow blanket up and covered her body, wrapped in silk that hushed the tones of her breath. Dave felt frozen as he watched her, not realizing he must have been standing there for a whole because Kanaya turned her eyes to him that carried a message of ‘what else did you need?’ In response Dave took a hasty step backward, the surface of the wall pressing against him.

     “Well. I guess someone has to clean that shit up.” He stuffed his hands in his pockets to avoid fidgeting with them. Kanaya tiredly smiled, the stress lines on her countenance making her look so much older than she actually was. When she didn’t respond Dave gave an awkward little nod and headed for the door. Just as he had taken a step out of its frame, she called his name.  
“David?”  
“Yeah…?” He didn’t bother remarking on her choice of name. Any other time he might have.  
“It will get better.” even though it wasn’t a question, Kanaya still searched his eyes for reassurance. Dave instinctively reached out to mess with his shades - how did he realize he wasn’t wearing them?

     “Yeah man,” Dave struggled the response out, his lip thankfully keeping straight. The troll blinked, her head lowered so her gaze met the floor.  
“Alright.” She took the dismissive words right from his mouth with that. Dave backed out of the room, quickly turning the corner, and once he was about 2 or 3 cracked tiles away from Roses he let a sigh billow from his chest.

     Of course he wasn’t going to actually clean that shit up, and even though he had to piss he decided he’s taken the long way, the really long way, to the bathroom on the other side of the meteor. He tracked his hand along the walls as he walked through the corridors, dimly lit by light bulbs that looked as though they might expire any day now. Little, scampering footsteps made him lift his head, eyes falling upon the Mayor and his grey, moth-muddled rags. He sat on the floor, can in one hand, piece of string in the other. “Hey el presidente.” Dave stepped forward. The Mayor turned his head from the hall he was looking down and instead focused on waving happily at him. He waved him over frantically.  “What?” Dave stepped in front of him, crouching down to be closer to his level.

     Wayward Vagabond held up the string for Dave to hold. Confused, the Strider followed the length of the string. It crawled across the cement like a snake, slithering off into the dark of the adjacent hall. Dave couldn’t have time to ask what this was all about, as the Mayor then shoved the can into Daves other hand.

     The mute little legislator played charades, pushing his hands together before putting a hand up to one ear. Dave put the pieces together with ease. “You tryin’ to play telephone?” It reminded him of himself when he was young, making little inventions like this. Well, actually this lame sort of creation was something Jade would have done. “Well, I mean alright.” Dave started as he began to weave the thread into the receiving end of the makeshift landline. “Don’t know why you’re bothering though, this ain’t the 30’s man, cellphones exist.”

     When it was tied trough Dave put his math to the can. “Hello. Hello citizens of Can Town, do you read me? Over.” He tested, putting his ear to it. To his surprise a familiar, raspy and very faint voice came through.  
“Dave? What the fuck are you doing?” For the briefest of moments he thought it could have been Karkat, but then a more intelligent option hit him.  
“Terezi?”  
“Who else would it be?”  
“A faithful citizen of Can Town looking to get in contact with their senator.”

     A smile managed to pull to his lips. “Right…” The smile then tipped down. Terezi really wasn’t the troll he knew, even dated for a short period of time anymore. If this had been a few years early she probably would have bitten a playful comeback like ‘well this is your judiciary leader speaking and I smell trouble’ or some bullshit.  
“Where have you been?” Dave asked, beginning to pace without realizing it. The Mayor looked just a touch distressed.  
“Around.” Short, curt answer.  
Dave paused, biting the skin on the bottom of his lip. “That’s it? We don’t see you for almost 3 months and you’ve just been around?”  
“Jeez Dave you’re starting to sound like a wuss. What does it matter anyway?”  
“Oh woe is me.” Dave spat with a surprising amount of malice. “Would you just tell me where you are?”  
“I don’t need another intervention.”

      Dave rubbed the bridge of his nose. _Fucking Christ it’s like talking to an edgy teenager who just found Lincoln Park._ He decided against saying anything, instead he dropped the can and began to follow the string like a trail of breadcrumbs.

     The mayor watched him get swamped by the dark, throwing his hands to his head in alarm. “Thanks though. I’d rather just keep doing what I’m doing. If I fall I’d rather do it alone.” Terezi’s voice came from the floor.

     Dave walked on for a while until he began to hear her voice again echoing off the walls. The string ran through his fingers, leading him straight to his target, who sat on a bench at the balcony. The cold air bit at his skin, but Dave ignored it as he came up behind her, reaching a hand out and touching her shoulder. “AH!” She jumped, whirling around. Dave couldn’t indulge in teasing her when he saw the condition she was in. he took a step back.

     Terezi looked like she just came back from a Juggalo orgy that ended wrong. She reeked of sweat and sugar, cola flavored carbonation that could still be seen smeared across her chapped lips. Her head was a rats nest of greasy, stringy black hair that looked like if you introduced it to a comb it’d be the first time it ever saw one. She wore boxers that were stained in the rainbow colors of Faygo, he hoped. And a shirt torn and 2 sizes two big for her.

     “Jesus…” Dave murmured. Terezi’s face sunk in its features. She looked down at herself, then defensively back up at him.  
“What?” She snapped, standing up, hands balled into fists.

     Dave shook his head, lowering his eyes and kicking at a pebble that had lodged itself out of the floor. “Nothing man, I didn’t say anything.”  
“You said Jesus!”  
“Just payin’ my dues to the Lord.” He excused with a shrug.

     Terezi calmed, sitting back down, muscles loosening, head pulled into her hands. “Oh God…” Her voice cracked. _Too many breakdowns in one day..._ Dave stepped closer and awkwardly clapped a hand on her back, papping it. Terezi’s breath hitched with a sudden, violent sob as Dave broke the dam that apparently was overflowing in the troll. “What is wrong with me?” She crumbled.

     Not knowing what to say, Dave decided to take what he hoped would be the safe route, and kept quiet. At this angle, leaning over her he could see the back of her neck. It was bruised and blemished teal in the shape of a hand print. “I've crept too far in this hole to get out… I just want to go back to where it started.” She wept into her palms. Dave thought about her words, but a sour pit bloomed in his stomach. “Back when I had Pyral! Back when petty fights with Vriska couldn't escalate to what they are! When I could talk to you without this fucking feeling and I could have Karkat!”

     “Stop.” Dave interrupted, not aware he even spoke until she looked at him, teal stained against her grey skin. “Just. Stop please. I can't hear about Karkat.” The serious feel in him made both of them uncomfortable…  
“I'm sorry…” she murmured, turning so her eyes could zone somewhere Dave couldn't see. “I know how much you care about him.”  
“Terezi…” _Just stop just stop don't talk about him._ Dave's heart picked up in his chest, playing a beat against his ribs.  
“I loved him too once.”

     “I said stop!” He pulled his hand away and their eyes connected again. Dave wouldn't admit he was close to crying but his face had flushed in heat that was either a sign of anger, or that numbing feeling you get before tears come. He scratched at his eyes just in case. “Just stop. It can't be helped anymore.” He turned and leaned against the railing separating him from the ground and the abyss of space. This was where he first kissed Karkat. It felt so long ago, even though it couldn't have been. The silence between them was deafening, broken only when Terezi pushed out of her seat. That's all Dave heard. He would not hear the footsteps that carried her away, he would only realize he was alone when he turned around and found the Mayor standing at the end of the corridor. “Hey man…”

     The Mayor trotted forward with tiny little steps, beady eyes full of understanding. He said nothing, only reached up and put his tiny hand in the palm of Dave's hand as they both stared off.


	3. The Green Sun

     Nearly a week went by before people began to question where in the hell Terezi had gone. It would have been even longer before the disappearance was brought up - but it just so happened that Dave was awoken one night to the drawled out and low voice of a murder clown hanging over his bed.His arrival wasn't just for casual conversation, like the Strider had hoped. He was always up for sorting things out like bros, but ever since he had called Gamzee both a 'juggalo' and 'the worst troll', he was grinding heavy against that black quadrant. And Dave was really not looking into hitting that.

     After a short pow-wow of some violent accusations that Dave didn't understand Gamzee finally spat it out; where was he hiding Terezi? Did this carne think he abducted her or something? The argument escalated until Kanaya had to barge in and pry the juggalo off. Apparently not even Gamzee had seen Terezi in that amount of time, the fact he came to bring it to light was either some sort of showmanship that he cared for her on some level, or he just really wanted to get his dick wet. Regardless, the search for her began. It was an all day event, scoping through every room and hall and cupboard. They fanned over the entire meteor, and by the time Dave had found any clues as to her well being, his voice had become fried from yelling for her.

     He thought to himself that he was just like a Jr. Sherlock Holmes when he found his first trail of evidence. A scalemate hoodie, bright red and discarded like an empty can, filthy and oddly sticky. It's snout lay to one side, pointing further down a lone hallway that the light bulbs didn't even bother to flicker for.

      _Is this faction C?_ Dave thought to himself as he walked into the haze of black. This part of the comet had remained untouched for several reasons since their arrival. One was because of the lethal stench of gasoline in the air, and another was because of the mutated imp problem. It was the kind of place where as long as you didn't mess with it, it didn't mess with you. And man, Dave really wasn't looking forward to spelunking further into it.

     His rhythmic footsteps matched the peaceful ambiance of leaky faucets loosening a few droplets of iridescent water onto the cement. The further he got, the more he had to wade through the accumulating puddles. "Aug..." Dave hitched the legs of his pajama pants up higher.

     "Terezi?!" He called out, taking another step before a cylindrical bottle met his foot and darted out from under him, making his behind come in contact with the watery floor. "Fuck!" He squawked, hissing out an exhale as he reached for the culprit of his crash. An empty bottle of Faygo lay on his palm, and from the smell of it that wafted out of the open lid he could tell it was just drained. A few sticky droplets of Red Pop still remained. She had to have been here not too long ago.

     "Pyrope?!" He was back on his feet in a second, jogging through the dark that was in no way alleviated by his sunglasses. He couldn't see an inch in front of his face, so it came as no surprise when he collided straight into a wall that must have been the end of a corridor, and, with a look to his right, the start of a new one. A tired, green light wavered from somewhere deep within. Dave took off his sunglasses and tucked them into the hem of his collar.

     "Fuck what am I, in a horror film?" Comedic relief did little to settle the chills that were tickling the ivories of his spinal chord. There wasn't any turning back though, she had to be somewhere in here, so he ran forward. Water splashed up at him with every foot-fall, he kept his mouth tight-lipped to avoid the taste.

     The closer Dave got the brighter the light got, until it was blazing in a stream of green that rivaled that of the sun. His lungs began to scream, the muscles on his aching ass also screamed. But he was almost there. A sheen of some metallic glow reflected the light - which didn't turn out to be as blinding as it had been from a distance. The Strider panted and pushed his hands into his knees, looking around the dimly lit room.Still not sign of Terezi, but his eyes did catch a light switch. Surprise back handed him as a white light filled the room. "Ah!" He shut his eyes tight and scrambled for his shades, shielding his vision once more.

     It made it a bit easier to scope out the place at least. File cabinets lined each wall, reaching almost to the ceiling like some CIA shit. A quick glance in any of them would prove to be empty though. There were no doors, the tile was cracked and flooded making the legs of the desks around rotted, and swelling the wood. Of course, none of this interested Dave as much as the giant contraption in the center of the room. It was bulky and metal, with a bed of buttons and slides like a beat machine, and a giant Frankenstein-esque lever. A platform was cradled in the middle, with a dome of light around it. 

     While observing it, Dave pushed his palm down on the keypad, a crumpling of paper meeting his touch. He looked down and, hungry for another clue, unfolded the wrinkles.

 

           _Dear reader,_  
_I was unsure what to do with myself for so long. Everyday I wasted away, not knowing how our future would turn out. I always wanted to make a difference. And I couldn't do that here. It might be too late for any of you to notice, but don't you see? We're doomed. I'm going to back a time where I can make a difference. And while I'm not sure if it will work... I've gotten to the point where the outcome of death is also favorable. Please don't think less of me for running like this. But someone has to pick up the pieces._  
 _P.S. Dave: you said Karkat's death. It couldn't be helped anymore. What if it can?_

 

    He turned it over, no other words were scribbled. He wished there were, because this wasn't enough. Dave's hands began to sweat as he read it again, and it was only in that moment the thought of what 'doomed' meant sunk into him.  _Everything I've done. It couldn't have been for nothing._ His grip tightened and the paper bent between his fingers like clay. What had he lived for then, if not for this? He had to prove her wrong. They weren't doomed, and to show her that he had to get her back.

     Dave slammed the paper down, not so much as thinking of the occurrence of things not working out right, and not the possibility of this contraption killing him. But as he lay his hand on the lever he lacked the ability to give his arm weight... He stood on the cusp of death - or some greater purpose. The light of green behind him caught the corner of his eye, where it blazed. So much like a sun.

     Fuck it. He pulled the lever and ran onto the platform, immediately regretting his irreversible decision as the gadget began to whir and cough in its ignition. Dave thought he should depart with some last, witty phrase no one else but him would hear - but before he could open his mouth a beam of light engulfed him.


End file.
